Living as Dispersed Community:The Tertiary Order of the Holy Paraclete

Abstract

Material Abstract
This thesis is an evaluation of the genesis, development and contemporary life of the Tertiary Order of the Holy Paraclete. Seeking to answer the research question ‘What are we really for and about?’ the research explores the history and the present lived experience of the Tertiary Order and its relationship to the Order of the Holy Paraclete, Whitby. Archival material from both communities, and transcripted material from group work and from individual interviews and from ‘The Gathering’ (the triennial meeting of TOHP) provide a rich texture of colours in the research project.
The driving argument which develops in the course of the research is that the Tertiary Order has a particularly dual character, both Benedictine and Franciscan, which is clearly seen in the charism of the Founder, Dr Charlotte Houlton. Far from being a point of ambiguity, this duality can be seen to serve instead as an ikon of the Order’s dual existence, ‘in the world yet not of it’, the monastic and the missional being combined in this particular Tertiary vocation.
Working with this strand of the duality of Tertiary life, the research employs a variety of writers on monasticism, both historical and theological, as lenses with which to enlarge the view of the Tertiary Order. In particular the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is both argued for as apt for the task, and then harnessed in the service of the research, with his poem ‘Stations on the Way to Freedom’ providing the base for further reflection.
The thesis closes with a further analysis of the charism of the Founder, weaving the connections between her and present-day Tertiary life, and makes some suggestions about the possible way ahead for the Tertiary Order as a whole.